Sunday, December 29, 2013

Let’s
face it, the gun industry is amazingly incestuous from a manufacturing perspective and very few folks actually make their own parts. Generally I am not a big fan of most “me too” AR15 companies that are popping up lately. Most are just screwing together parts from boxes, however some offer something unique and/or have deep machining backgrounds and are actually making their own parts. In the case of MMC they have both. They have been running AR15 parts for sometime as an OEM manufacturer, so offering completely in-house made rifles was not a stretch. I picked up a lightweight MMC Tactical C16.1 AR15 for something light and handy and to see what this newer firearm manufacturer was delivering.

ABOUT MMC MENNIE MACHINE COMPANY

Mennie Machine is not some startup CNC company popped up overnight in order to take advantage of the AR15 market explosion. MMC was established way back in 1970 and became a prime contractor for the U.S. Government for building high-grade Military components. Over the years they have produced everything from military, automotive, diesel and heavy equipment industries and of course firearms parts. Today Mennie Machine Company has over 300 employees and a 225,000 square foot facility with approximately 180 CNC machines in a ISO/TS 16949:2009 certified facility. By contrast, most large firearms manufacturers are no where near this large or have all these in house capabilities and certifications. They know precision machining, manufacturing, assembly and even distribution. The challenge for MMC will be the name.

MMC
is facing a bit of a confusing branding issue, for instance MMC Mennie
Machine Company should not be confused with MMC Moores Machine Company
who allegedly had some very serious challenges with quality, production,
and customer service or MCC Matthew Carbine Company which produces
extremely high quality 80% billet lowers, MMC Mennonite Central
Committee which is against guns, MMC Firearms Incorporated, or even MCC
Montgomery Community College… MMC and MCC are apparently popular acronyms. My
advice to MMC, the Mennie Machine Company as a very new brand would be
to re-brand quickly to maybe “Mennie Defense” since it is a separately
operated division anyway and to avoid the confusion especially with the
problematic Moore Machine Company legacy. But what do I know.. I just
develop the marketing strategy at a senior level for a Fortune 100
company.

FIT, FINISH, FEEL, & FEATURES

The first thing to note is that outside of the springs, trigger, Troy Forend, grips and stock, MMC is making all other parts 100% in house. Yes even the entire Bolt Carrier Group, buffer tube, receivers, and detents are made in house. Mennie could obviously make the forend as well and even the grips and stock due to its ability to form plastics as well. Only a couple other AR15 manufacturers can make this claim of in house production which absolutely ensures product spec and source quality. With that noted, MMC is delivering a top notch quality AR15.

The assembly was nice and tight and all the pins were driven in with care without marking up the receivers. All the aluminum bits were nicely Type III anodized which you would expect, however a major upgrade is that all the steel bits including barrel, gas block, even detents and pins are all nitrocarburized (i.e. melonited) for protection. MMC NiBo (Nickel Boron) coats their Bolt Carrier Group. The BCG is a very nice component that is full auto rated, MPI tested, with a staked gas key.

MMC own combat muzzle brake design on the Tactical C16.1 AR15 is excellent. It is basically the size of a standard A2 birdcage flash hider but still delivers excellent performance keeping overall length to a minimum. The compensator even includes a wire cutting notch. I am sure MMC will sell these $60 comps by the truckload.

Mennie
Machine includes their own Enhanced Trigger kit which is nitride coated
and tuned to deliver a 5lb brake with minimal take up and a shorter
reset. It is not a match trigger, but considerably smoother, crisper and
lighter than typical stock triggers. It reminds me of an ALG Defense
trigger which are probably the best stock triggers around. With the
nitride coating the trigger does take up smoothly and break cleanly.

The gas block is a clean standard melonited unit with a stainless gas tube mounted up to MMC’s own tapered 16.1” pencil profile. The tapered barrel design drops a lot of weight even over a standard M4 design. To maintain accuracy MMC has extended and tapered the barrel near the receiver to deliver a bit more stiffness and heat tolerance at the highest stress area on the barrel. This longer extension seemed to enhance accuracy a bit during sustained fire or may be is was the all the high tech gadgetry MMC uses to chamber the barrels. They use four coordinate measuring machines and contour inspection machines to select the optimal chambering position instead of just ramming a reamer into chamber the barrel like a lot of companies do. Its a process that maximizes chamber to bore alignment on the barrel and improves accuracy.

Other
features on the Tactical C16.1 AR15 include the proven Troy 13” Alpha
Rail, ambidextrous charging handle, and a standard AR grip. MMC does
include my favorite Rogers Super-Stoc multi-position buttstock which
locks down solid unlike any other stock out there. One very unique tweak
Mennie Machine does to its 6-position buffer tube is to polish the
interior. This internal buffer tube polish smooths out the feel of hand
cycling and significantly quiets cycling noise as rounds zip downrange. unique looking but very durable MMC does not make the waffle cut 30-round polymer magazine which performed perfectly on the range.

MMC
is starting to do some of their own molding such as the and extended polymer
trigger guard. I think they did a great job on the trigger guard as well. All cool touches made in house which I hope they will
expand to develop their own grip. A smooth fatter finger-grooveless grip
similar to the Magpul grip would be my vote.

Overall
quality from part to part was excellent for good reason. MMC
environmentally stabilizes all parts prior to measurement in a lab
environment on top of tool, machine inspection schedule intervals and
post part inspection and quality control of parts rolling out of
machines.

Each rifle is assembled in a precision jig to assure alignment of each part and minimize damage to the rifle.

FUNCTIONS & ACCURACY

In
these days of ammo shortage, I simply cannot toss 1000 rounds at a gun
to test it like I used to, however I did run a couple hundred rounds of
reloads and factory ammo through the MMC Tactical C16.1 AR15. A Eotech 512 was mounted up and I went to work killing paper and steel. What I
found was a very consistent shooting AR with surprising accuracy and
zero functional issues. Everything worked as it should and the
compensator delivered a noticeable reduction in both recoil and muzzle
rise. As equipped the C16.1 is a nice light and fast shooting gun.

For
accuracy I broke out boxes of the usual suspects with ammo from
Hornady, Federal and Winchester to see what the rifle could do. Even
with the less expensive Federal American Eagle ammo, I still managed
ragged 1”-100 yard groups with my Nikon 8-32 Monarch Gold topping the
gun for accuracy testing. Moving up to the premium target/match ammo lines, I
still saw very good consistency, however my groups dropped down to the
.75” group range with one good group with Hornaday 75gr TAP ammo coming
in at .72”. I am sure some of this accuracy is due to MMC’s tapered
barrel design and high tech chamber centering/cutting features, but
frankly I was a little surprised that a light weight barrel delivered
this accuracy.

FINAL THOUGHTS

MMC
is definitely going head to head with high quality/high value brand
name companies. The $1600 MMC Tactical C16.1 AR15 adds Nibo BCG, Nitrided
trigger, Troy Alpha rail, ambi-charging handle, and of course the Rogers
Super-Stoc over the equivalent $1500 Daniel Defense DDM4LV.

Mennie Machine does have more high tech machining capabilities at its disposal to assure very high tolerances
between all components. The result is a very good deal on a base rifle
with the solid base upgrades that deliver a premium high grade
military-spec rifle. The premium
battle rifle market MMC is targeting is a tough space to be in and requires a deep
investment in machining, technology, quality, and as we know from Bravo
Company and Daniel Defense “Branding”. MMC’s featured, machining
technology, quality, and prices are all in line, but I think their next
hurdle will be getting the word out in a very crowded space… maybe this
article will help.

The
MMC Tactical C16.1 AR15 shot well, functioned perfectly, delivered
surprisingly good accuracy for a lightweight barrel profile, and the
compensator was excellent. If you see an MMC AR on the shelf, pick one
up. I think you will be impressed with the overall fit, finish, and
quality of this new rifle company. If you see Mennie on the side, you
can be assured you are getting a very good quality rifle.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Lately
it would seem that all the old hand to hand combat and survival tools
are coming back in vogue again due to troops starting to understand that
sometimes a knife, sword, or axe comes in more handy than a gun. In the
past decade we have seen the word “combat” or “tactical” become
attached with swords, tomahawks and axes and new unique designs and some
classics making a huge comeback. Tomahawks have actually become one of
the fastest growing cutting tool segments in the military simply because
they can open crates, doors, be used for making barricades and small
structures in the field, for personal defense, … and the list goes on.
In short, they are very handy tools to have around when you are on your
own in hostile territory.

Ryan
Johnson is the primary designer and president of RMJ Tactical has been
honing his tactical axe/tomahawk designs for over 30-years. His designs
have developed a fan base in the military special forces community do to
their size, utility and toughness. One of his more popular design was
used as a base to develop the CRKT Chogan and Kangee T-Hawks tomahawks.
These two designs are nearly identical which the exception that the
Kangee has a pointed spike on the non-chopped edge and the Chogan has a
blunt hammer type edge. The result of the collaboration was a very
effective Ryan Johnson styled tomahawk that retails on the street for
around $100 as an affordable option the custom made $450 Ryan Johnson
handmade custom originals.

FIT, FINISH, FEEL, FEATURES, & FUNCTIONLike
all CRKT knives their overseas production is of very high tolerances
and quality and for $100, the Chogan is own of the best deals in
tactical tomahawks. Chogan features a full tang construction made of
SK5 Carbon steel for high durability and edge holding and then finished a
with black powder coat to provide rust and corrosion resistance. The
glass filled nylon handles are bolted on for security and feature a
textured finish that provided me plenty of grip even when my hands were
wet. The handle area includes multiple lashing points to provide ultimate flexibility to the user.

At
only 14” long and nearly .25” thick steel, the CRKT Chogan is easy to
pack, however CRKT went a step further and includes a MOLLE compatible
belt sheath which protects the user and his equipment from accidental
cuts. The Chogan snaps into the sheath however CRKT has included a snap
clasp closure for added security. Also included is a long sling that
can be attached to the sheath to carry the Chogan T-Hawk over the
shoulder.

The
handle is a versatile design that can be comfortably retained in a
number of grips from very high for precision bushcraft detail tasks with
the cutting edge to a low reverse grip to use the hammer head. I broke
down a paper pallet to feed my Roundboy pizza oven and the chore was
surprisingly quick with the T-hawk.

One
of the features I have to address is the shaving sharp edge that the
Chogan T-Hawk is capable of obtaining. Out of the box the T-Hawk was
paper slicing sharp compared to any factory axe, however after a few
passes with my fine ceramic steel I was able to shave a nice clean strip
down my arm. Pretty impressive for a tomahawk with an edge designed
from a durability perspective. This keen knife edge sharpness elevates
the usefulness of the CRKT Chogan T-Hawk beyond the normal capabilities
of a blunt wedge shaped axe we are normally familiar with to a small
camp axe that can do work normally requiring a knife. Paired with the
handle’s design which allows you to really choke up on the axe head and
you have a precision cutting tool that could deliver game cleaning
abilities.

FINAL THOUGHTSAs
a farm boy raised in the country, I have always appreciated a great
hand tool. Among those tools that were handiest was a small high quality
carbon steel camp axe. This is in essence exactly what the CRKT Chogan
T-Hawk is with some very nice and useful refinements that make this
tomahawk more durable and flexible even in combat situations. Not that I
am running around kicking in doors, but I know folks who do and they
find a high strength tactical tomahawk pretty handy. For me this is a
great all around tool that can deliver a huge set of essential functions
in a survival and general hunting/outdoor game cleaning duties with its
shaving sharp edge. If the need arose it would make a mighty fine
combat defense weapon if I found my shotgun, AR15, and Glocks empty. For
the prepper, outdoorsman, huntsman, and special operator, this is a
handy lightweight tool that delivers a huge capabilities set for not a
lot of money.

My
Century Arms Centurion 39 Sporter AK-47 chambered in the powerful and
cheap to shoot 7.62x39 needed an update. With the prices of .223 these
days, I found myself pushing a lot of rounds with with the AK simply due
to the cost and availability of the ammo. The plastic factory forend
began to fail after about a half a year of being beaten down and the
accuracy due to the 4140 machined ordinance steel receiver was begging
for an optic to tighten things up at distance. Although the stock grip
on the Centurion was far better than most, I still pined for one of the
great AR15 style grips I was accustomed to.

Today
we are fortunate to have a huge array of AK-47 aftermarket parts
available from mild to wild. The challenge is that the AK-47 designs
vary a little or a lot so in most cases “some fitting may be required”
is a typical caveat found on most AK-47 accessory packaging.

MIDWEST INDUSTRIES UNIVERSAL AK-47 RAIL - Last
year I saw Midwest Industries Universal AK-47 rail forend and noted
that its design was developed primarily to work around the variances of
the AK-47 design. The MI Universal AK-47 Rail design features a locking
v-block style design that locks onto the barrel sandwiched between the
lower and upper handguard. Once installed on the barrel it becomes a
rock solid mount for all sorts of optics. In this case, I wanted to
continue to explore the Cooper Scout Rifle concept in an AK-47 format by
adding a Burris Scout Rifle Scout.

Rail
installation was simple. Work through the initial stages of field
stripping your AK-47 until you have the forend removed. Mount the Lower
Rail section and block assembly and assure it stays nice and tight with a
dab of LocTite on each bolt. After the lower rail section is mounted,
the top rail bolts on and you are essentially done after reassembly.
The MI Universal AK-47 rail does not require the front and rear forend
trim rings, however I left them as it looks aesthetically nicer. You are
now ready to mount your optic. The rail is not too far forward that
standard red dots, Eotechs feel goofy and they work just find there.
Midwest Industries does offer several versions of the rail which are
direct mount compatible with many red dot models. In this case I mounted
up the Burris Scout Rifle Scope and was ready to hit the range.

The
quality, fit and finish are all top notch on the MI AK-47 forend. The
rail is available in a variety of color options including the FDE
version shown. For me the most important aspect of this rail is that it
has retained zero even after some substantial hit. All around a great
investment in my AK that has delivered big accuracy advantages with
optics out on the range.

BURRIS SCOUT RIFLE SCOPE 2-7x32
- OK I know this is not what Burris intended when offering this scope,
however my logic is a bit different. Cooper’s original scout rifle
design was based on the 30-30 Winchester which a bit less powerful that
the 7.62x39 AK round, but for practical hunting purposes identical.
Cooper’s love for the 30-30 round and the legacy of animals taken with
the 30-30 is proof that that the 7.62x39 should be just as good or maybe
a bit better. Burris was really intending their Scour Rifle Scope to be
mounted to something like the .308 Winchester Ruger Scout Rifle. Based
on my testing, maybe they should consider it for the AK-47 as well. This
is a slam dunk, holy cow, why haven't we been doing this for years kind
of revelation after the first trigger pull. The Burris Scout Rifle
Scope transforms the AK-47 from decently accurate rifle to an effective
300 yard hog/deer hunter. The bullet drops are a bit different, however
they lined up well enough and with my Nikon RifleHunter 1000 rangefinder
and Strelok ballistic ap, I was able to even drop rounds pretty
accurately out to the 12” 400-yard gong and hold 8”-10” groups reliably
at that distance. My aging eyes deliver just a bit of fuzz at 100-yards
and the Burris Scout Rifle Scope was the perfect addition to get my AK
out of the safe more oftne, on the range or even a hunt.

The
2-7 magnification and BDC reticle really makes a huge difference in my
ability to hit things with any precision beyond the 50-yard range. I am
not going to say the AK-47 is your next long range precision prairie dog
precision rifle, however it delivers 1”-100 yard - 1 MOA groups and can
hold that pretty well out to 200-yards after that things open up a bit
to about 4” groups at 300-yards from realistic field shooting positions.
All that noted, the AK-47 fits the need of a scout rifle for anything
under 400-yards.

Fit
and finish of the Burris is excellent and I really liked also the
overall size and weight which kept things tight and light. The Burris
Scout Rifle Scope is essentially a handgun scope with a Burris Ballistic
Plex which delivers approximate aiming points for shots from 100-500
yards with the 308/.223 rounds. The scope can be used as a handgun
scope. When mounted to a 308 or .223 it lines up pretty well at 100,
200, & 300 yards, however 400 yards seems to align more to the 500
hash mark… your performance may vary. Once you figure out where the
bullts are dropping at distance, it is pretty easy lock down pie-plate
sized hits all the way out to 400-yards with the 7.62x39 AK-47 round. A
great optic that would be equally at home on a handgun, scout focused
AR15 or something like the Ruger Gunsite.

MISSION FIRST TACTICAL ENGAGE AK-47 GRIP - The
factory grip was better than average however I wanted the ergonomics of
the AR15 grips. I reached for one of my favorite brands, Mission First
Tactical for their AK-47 grip. “Some fitting may be required” was
accurate due to my billet receiver which is a bit different than typical
stamped receivers. Two minutes with the Dremel allowed me to let out
the needed material on the grip to clear the handguard and I had a
perfect fit. What else can I say about Mission First other than that for
me they are one of the most comfortable AR15 and AK-47 grips available
and I was a happy camper after this grip was installed.

MAGAZINES… I NEED MORE MAGAZINES
- Generally everything on the AK-47 runs perfectly, however I had
receiver some “very inexpensive” mags for testing that were so loose
that I could swear the wind could cause them the wobble and
occasionally deliver a misfeed. On the other hand the Tapco AK-47
magazine have been wonderful and fit very solid, so I loaded up on Tapco
AK-47 magazines during one of the pre-holiday sales to assure I had
plenty of extra magazines handy and have never had a functional issue
due to them.

FINAL THOUGHTSAlthough
I had the original two included Tapco mags included with my Century
Arms Centurion 39 Sporter AK-47 I am very happy I know have a supply of
good mags to keep my AK running its best. The Century Arms Centurion 39
Sporter has a lot going for it and the billet receiver does make it a
more stable and more accurate AK-47 than the stamped receiver versions.
With the addition of the Mission First grip for comfort and the MI
Handguard and Burris Scope I now have an excellent package that is
considerably more accurate as the yards add up.

Monday, December 23, 2013

So you have invested the equivalent price of your first car in the dream rifle, you carefully zero’ed the rifle at 100, 200, & 300 yards to get ready for the big hunt and man can you nail it at those distances. You booked the hunting trip of a lifetime, booked the travel, took time off work and planned to blow your mind with the fun that was coming. We all invest a lot in getting to the point that we can actually take a shot on the range and/or hunt so it makes sense to actually connect with what we are shooting at and that requires knowing the yardage. For well under $400 you can assure you connect with everything from that squirrel at 15 yards to the steel gong at 800 yards. Nikon’s RifleHunter 1000 has been more than handy investment for me in almost every shooting/hunting situation.

ABOUT NIKONNikon Sport Optics is the same famed camera optics company. Nikon has become fast growing sporting optics manufacturer by delivering outstanding clarity for far less than competitors. In fact I have featured Nikon products in large number of articles because they always deliver the best my builds can deliver from their most affordable optics to the high-end Monarch Gold line. Nikon’s optics are legendary due to their proprietary anti-reflective coatings which offer high-resolution images in most lighting conditions.

Over the years Nikon expanded its sport optics line form binoculars, to rifle & field scopes, to now a mighty fine line of rangefinders. Nikon has a range of rangefinder that start at around $150. I picked up the RifleHunter 1000 Laser Rangefinder which is just one step down from Nikon’s top of the line Monarch Gold 1200.

FIT, FINISH, FEEL, FEATURES & FUNCTIONS

Nikon’s
RifleHunter 1000 Laser Rangefinder is designed to measure distances
from 11 to 1000 yards simply in a compact lightweight package. The unit
delivers the shot (horizontal) distance based on Nikon’s ID Technology
which compensates for incline/decline shooting angles all the way up to a
near vertical +/- 89 degrees. If your are shooting down/up a 45 degree
incline and the RifleHunter 1000 shows 100-yards then ballistically you
should hold zero just as you would for a 100-yard zero. No other
adjustment is required - simple. I personally found this especially
handy ranging tree rats (squirrels), however the Nikon would also give
you the confidence to range and take the shot on that trophy ram way
down below you in the gully. The unit can also be set for light of
sight (linear) distance as well if you have that need as well as
swapping form yards to meters.

Operation
is simple; look through the 6X monocular eyepiece, press the power
button, center your target, press the power button again and about a
second later the yardage is displayed in increments of .1 yard/meter out
to 999.9 yards and then automatically powers off after 8-seconds… again
simple. False readings can even be minimized by using Distant target
Priority Mode versus the initial First Target Priority mode setting
which delivers faster measurements.

Consistency
can be a bit iffy on some rangefinders. To test this I headed to my
range on different days in different conditions and pulled measurements
on known 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 yard distances. After looking
through all the data of six range trips, the Nikon RifleHunter 1000 only
varied about half a yard from day to day which is excellent for a
$386.95 MSRP rangefinder.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As
the saying goes, there are hunters who own rangefinders and those that
have never tried them before. Once you try a rangefinder that is well
built and easily to use, you will never hit the range or the trail
without one whether you have a pistol, rifle or bow in your hand. I hear
they are indispensable for golf as well. I find that I use this tool
constantly even just at the range to answer simple questions like was
that 100 Meters or 100 Yards or help place target stands for proper 25M
AR zeroing. Even more, once you are in the field the Nikon RifleHunter
1000 gives you the confidence to take and make those shots that are
within your practiced abilities.

There are AR manufacturers brands we know and see on the gun shelves and then there are the OEM manufacturers whose names most of use rarely if ever hear of. These AR15 OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) are the ones who make and supply brand-able components for those who assemble and sell AR brands. The vast majority of AR brands, all buy from the same base of suppliers and it becomes all about the quality of those components and the skill of the builders.

Featuring a Mission First Grip and Stock

This
is a story I have been wanting to tell for some time as I think many do
not realize where their AR parts are really coming from and where they
are actually made. Yep, the secret is out; because it is generally
prohibitively expensive to forge, mill, and finish your own receivers,
create your own barrels, and make all the other miscellaneous tiny
parts, only specialized very high volume OEM shops can deliver high
quality cost effective base parts for AR builds. In the case of
receivers, most brands buy uppers and lowers from a very small number of
companies such as Aero Precision and have their logo milled, engraved
or etched during production. A year ago, few had heard of Aero
Precision unless you are really a hard core AR nerd, however if you are
an AR shooter, you have almost certainly handled or own at least one of
their OEM premium quality branded upper and lower receivers.

Interestingly
enough almost all the base component manufactures start and operate
primarily in the aerospace industry where forging and extreme high
precision machining are commonplace and quality tolerances are
exponentially tighter than any requirements in the firearms industry.
Obviously Aero Precision is named for the aerospace market they serve
with Boeing being one of their largest clients. Aero Precision slide
into the OEM firearms manufacturing business like most of its other OEM
competitors after someone in the company made an initial run of
receivers and then the rest become history. In reality to the
transition from aerospace production to firearms manufacturing is really
more of a FFL paperwork and and extra step in shipment than any real
change in production processes... parts look different but forging,
milling, finishing, and QC all remain the same.

Now that you know part of the story, it begs the question what makes Aero Precision so well regarded that it has the preferred OEM manufacturer for some of the biggest names in black rifles. According to Aero Precision and a few non-disclosealbe AR brands I spoke with, who brand Aero Precision receivers, it comes down to an impeccably consistent quality. According to Charlie Silkett CEO of Aero Precision, their well respected quality is the result of carrying over the same forging and machining tolerances and quality control processes they use in their aerospace manufacturing.

THAT ALL COOL BUT WHAT DO THEY MAKE THAT I CAN BUY?

Late
in 2012 Aero Precision launched a consumer facing site simply to sell
it own Aero Precision AR15 products. With the political stupidity that
caused the great gun rush of 2013, suddenly people found themselves on
Aero’s site buying upper and lower receivers by the truckload.

Aero
precision has the only monolithic type upper available in the industry
thanks to a totally moronic Patent award to LMT shutting down everyone
else and in the process one of the best new ideas in the industry.
Aero’s COP Continuous Optic Platform was not impacted due to their
component design which is not a one-piece upper thanks to the rail
modularity offered by the COP. The COP is a spectacularly strong upper
receiver offering everything you want now with the ability to swap
things around anytime you change your mind. Since Aero has licensed the
design to another manufacturer in addition to offering it under the Aero
brand.

Aero Precision also manufacturers standard Mil-Spec upper and lower receivers as well as a few unique receivers. Aero has a very well thought out fully ambidextrous lower receiver for only $165. They also make a no-forward-assist upper receiver that still has the ejection port cover door instead of just a slick sided model. What I have liked best about Aero is they are very very reasonably priced factory direct and even have some great deals on blems, un-anodized, and Ceracoated models, and hand matched sets. If you want it plain, naked, blem’ed or coated they have it available. I have completed numerous builds with their receivers and never had an issue.

TOLERANCES & QUALITY CONTROL

Instead of pulling random samples, each and every receiver and part is tested with hard tolerance gauges and pins after the end of 50 unit runs. If a tolerance or pin does not fit correctly the part specs are heavily logged and then scraped or if functional sold as a blem at a substantial discount. Within each lot Aero Precision will then pull 10%-15% of the run as samples for a full 100% CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) inspection. This highly detailed computer controlled measurement process is re-calibrated every twelve months and records 150 different part features (such as a bolt release slot) and correlate them against “True Position Tolerance”. This aerospace tolerance testing gives Aero the ability to visualize part to part variances and how machining tolerances are holding.

Aero
Precision also caries over quality control process sampling and SPC
Charting (Statistical Process Control). Instead of just knowing whether a
part’s feature is within range, SPC Charting shows you where the
tolerances were for each part in the run. The goal is to see all of the
measurements groups tightly together within the control/tolerance range,
but if you see part feature measurements randomly all over the
control/tolerance range there may be some adjustment needed to assure
consistent tolerances. “The SPC process gives us and our clients direct
visibility into the quality and tolerances of our production process”
according to Silkett, “and it provides us a tool in all areas of
aerospace, firearms, and precision manufacturing to assure our clients
receive the highest quality and consistency in the industry from run to
run even comparing products between periods of years”.

When
I first started reviewing Aero’s COP and lowers, they had no intention
of becoming a AR parts brand, however when customer start demanding to
purchase with cash in hand, its hard to say no.

FIT, FINISH, & FEATURES

Due
to the cost involved, Aero Precision is taking consistently repeatable
manufacturing tolerances to a level unattainable by most machine shops.
The un-discloseable customers I spoke certainly believe Aero Precision
delivers the most consistent and highest quality products in the
industry. Some of those features noted were a complete absence of tool
and casting marks on the forged receivers, consistent and perfect fit
between batches, and available options and consistency of Type III hard
anodizing finish colors.

All the uppers are forged with 7075 T-6 aluminum, finish milled, Type III hard anodized, include T-markings on the 1913 spec picatinny rails, and are internally dry-lube coated for long-term smooth operation, reliability, and durability.

NEW INNOVATION

Due to the LMT Patent debachel, LMT and Aero Precision are the only companies selling something that looks or functions like a monolithic upper. Aero’s COP (Continuous Optic Platform) is definitely the most innovative and the only which is forged. The new forged Aero Precision COP uppers are not only an incredible piece of engineering, they have been tested by the military to be the strongest monolithic upper available all while being extremely lightweight and completely modular. The design was extremely innovative in that the COP kit is supplied with a varied array of full and partial picatiny rail, blanks, and blank/picatinny versions with sling mounts which can be swapped on and off the upper by only removing four screws. The result is a single platform with near limitless customization that can fit current needs and change easily based on any how the shooter’s style or equipment needs change in the future.

FINAL THOUGHTSThe Aero Precision uppers and lower I used are outstanding quality and I completely understand the resounding positive comments made by Aero Precision’s customers. There are a plethora of AR brands out there and I see the questions about various receiver brands online here and there. Some of those posts ask whether Aero Precision is a good receiver brand. Based on my experience with the three Aero Precision products, I can state that they are of exceptional quality and I would certainly not hesitate to buy any of their products after all, some of the biggest names in black rifles consider them the best.